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vrijdag 25 januari 2013

HBO has yet to announce whether "Girls" has been renewed for a third season, but that's okay, because Lena Dunham may have done it for them.

The writer, director and star of the critically-acclaimed comedy told Alec Baldwin during his WNYC podcast, "Here's the Thing," that she is preparing to start shooting the next season in March.

"I just finished season two," the Golden Globe-winning actress said on Monday. "We’re starting at the end of March. I’m so excited."

And much to delight of million of the 1.6 total overall viewers that tuned in to watch three airings of the premiere on Jan. 13, Dunham says the episode order may have been increased from 10 to 12.

"Well, we’ve been doing 10," she continued. "I think between you, me and McGee, I think we might do 12 next year."

HBO wouldn't officially confirm the renewal to TheWrap, but Dunham's interview makes it sound like she will call the premium cable network home for years to come. She admits it's "not clear" how many seasons of "Girls" she is contractually obligated to continue writing and directing, but says she's locked in as an actor for six years.

"HBO contractually has me I think as an actor for six years but as a writer and director -- I should pay more attention to my deals, but I’m just so excited to have my job," she said. "I just go, ‘Okay, whatever you say.’"

Another thing she should start getting excited about is the possibility of not just talking to Baldwin -- one of her idols -- but working with him, too.

After she revealed a third season, the "30 Rock" star was quick to add: "I'll be available. I'll come and play your therapist."

"That would be the most fun thing in the world," she responded before later adding: "Working with you is one of my longstanding dreams."

Sibling "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" collaborators Mark and Jay Duplass have landed a comedy pilot with HBO, a spokeswoman for the network told TheWrap on Thursday.

The half-hour pilot, "Togetherness," revolves round two couples living under the same roof who struggle to keep their relationships alive while pursuing their individual dreams. The Duplass brothers will write, executive produce and direct the pilot.

Last month, HBO ordered a pilot for the comedy "People in New Jersey," about an adult brother and sister who puzzle through the mysteries of life's big and small mysteries while living in the Garden State.

That project will be written by Bruce Eric Kaplan, a co-executive producer and writer on HBO's "Girls," with "Up in the Air" director Jason Reitman directing. "Saturday Night Live" boss Lorne Michaels will executive produce, alongside Kaplan, Reitman and others.

Biegel's effort, "Enlisted," which is based on his relationships with his siblings, follows three very different brothers as they work together in the Army in a small base in California. Biegel (pictured) is writing and executive-producing the single-camera project, which is being produced by 20th Century Fox Television. Mike Royce ("1600 Penn," "Men of a Certain Age") is working with Biegel on the pilot.

"2 Wrongs," meanwhile, will center on Nick and Jenny, two star-crossed lovers who must contend with Nick’s family's strong dislike of Jenny, which is not helped by the fact that Jenny left Nick at the altar seven years ago. The single-camera pilot, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television and Chernin Entertainment, is being written and executive-produced by Morgan, with Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone also executive-producing.

The network, which pulled its freshman comedy "Ben and Kate" from the schedule this week, has been busy stocking up on comedy projects in recent days. In addition to the six-episode series order given to the Seth MacFarlane-produced comedy "Dads," the network gave the go-ahead to four comedy pilots on Tuesday, including a project based on the book "I Suck at Girls" by "S#*! My Dad Says" co-creator Justin Halpern.

BACKSTROM (CBS) - The Hart Hanson-penned drama - about "an overweight, offensive, irascible detective as he tries and fails to change his self-destructive behavior" - has received a pilot commitment from the Eye. Said hour is based on the books by Leif G.W. Persson, who's executive producing alongside his agent Niclas Salomonsson and Hanson for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)

BETRAYAL (ABC) - David Zabel's drama - about "a beautiful but unhappily married female photographer who begins a torrid affair with a lawyer for a powerful family," the first of a spiraling series of betrayals with cataclysmic results for everyone involved - has been ordered to pilot. Said effort is based on the Dutch series "Overspel" with Scripted World's Rob Golenberg and Alon Aranya executive producing alongside Zabel for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)

BEVERLY HILLS COP (CBS) - Shawn Ryan's small screen take on the Eddie Murphy film franchise has formally been ordered to pilot. Brandon T. Jackson has already been cast in the Sony Pictures Television-based hour, about Axel Foley's police officer son, who takes down the criminal elements of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. Murphy himself will appear in the project and executive produce alongside Ryan and Marney Hochman. (Deadline.com)

BLACKLIST, THE (NBC) - Jon Bokenkamp's drama - about "the world's most wanted criminal who mysteriously turns himself in and offers to give up everyone he has ever worked with" in exchange to work with "a newly minted FBI agent with whom he seemingly has no connection" - is the latest to receive a pilot order at the Peacock. Sony Pictures Television is behind the hour with Davis Entertainment's John Davis and John Fox executive producing alongside Bokenkamp and showrunner John Eisendrath. (Deadline.com)

DELIRIUM (FOX) - The Karyn Usher-penned drama - set in a world in which the government requires that all teenagers be cured of love, a.k.a. deliria, to keep society safe - has scored a pilot order from the network. 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment is behind the hour, which is based on Lauren Oliver's bestselling book trilogy. Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope are executive producing alongside Usher. (Deadline.com)

FRIENDS & FAMILY (A.K.A. GAVIN & STACEY) (FOX) - David J. Rosen's import of Ruth Jones and James Corden's U.K. comedy "Gavin & Stacey" has received a pilot order from the network. The single-camera project focuses on "the key life moments of the title characters who try to maintain their relationship while combining their polarizing families' lives." Rosen, Jones and Corden are all executive producing the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour alongside Henry Normal, Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner. Hayes Jackson and Stacy Traub previously took a stab at an adaptation for ABC in 2009. (Deadline.com)

FRIENDS WITH BETTER LIVES (CBS) - Dana Klein's multi-camera comedy - about a group of 35-year-old friends who each think that the other has it better - is the latest to receive a pilot order from the Eye. 20th Century Fox Television is behind the half-hour with Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan also serving as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)

GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA (NBC, New!) - Liz Brixius has likewise scored a pilot order for a new single-camera comedy about "a 34-year-old woman who, after almost two decades, wakes up from a coma to find out she has a 17-year-old daughter from a pregnancy she was unaware of when her life was put on hold." Universal Television-based Wolf Films is behind the half-hour with Dick Wolf and Danielle Gelber executive producing alongside Brixius. (Deadline.com)

HOLDING PATTERNS (NBC) - Justin Spitzer's multi-camera comedy - about "a group of friends whose lives completely change after they survive a plane crash" - has booked a pilot order from the Peacock. Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan's TBD Productions is behind the half-hour, which is based at Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

HOUSE RULES (FOX, New!) - Andrew Gurland and Justin Hurwitz have booked a pilot commitment at the network for a new single-camera comedy about "a neurotic family with contempt for all things normal that tries their best to fit into their small Midwest town where everyone knows each other and politeness reigns." Said duo penned the half-hour and will executive produce alongside David Dobkin, Peter Principato and Paul Young of Principato-Young Entertainment for 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)

I SUCK AT GIRLS (FOX) - Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker's comedy - about a father and son coming of age in a time before coming of age was something you could Google - has booked a pilot order from the network. Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold's Warner Bros. Television-based Doozer banner is behind the single-camera project, which is based on Halpern's book of the same name. (Deadline.com)

JOE & JOE & JANE (NBC) - Sally Pressman ("Army Wives") is the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about "an author caught in an ongoing war between two needy, flawed people - his wife (played by Pressman) and his co-author/BFF." She'll play the aforementioned Jane, "a tough, successful business woman with a soft mushy center." Joe Port and Joe Weissman are behind the multi-camera project, which is set up at 20th Century Fox Television. (TVLine.com)

LIST, THE (A.K.A. UNTITLED PAUL ZBYSZEWSKI PROJECT) (FOX) - Paul Zbyszewski's drama - about a U.S. Marshal who leads the hunt for the person who stole a file with the secret identities of every member of the Witness Security Program - is the latest to receive a pilot commitment. Ruben Fleischer also serves as an executive producer on the hour, from 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)

ORIGINALS, THE (The CW) - Daniel Gillies has boarded the netlet's proposed spin-off of "The Vampire Diaries." He'll continue on as Elijah, joining fellow carryovers Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin). Julie Plec is behind the hour, which will air on April 25 as a backdoor pilot on the parent series. Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios are all co-producing. (Deadline.com)

PULLING (ABC) - The Alphabet's second attempt to import Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly's U.K. series - about "three dysfunctional women in their 30s living their lives the way they want, even if society tells them they should have it all figured out by this point" - has been given the green light to produce a pilot. Gene Stupnitsky and producer Aaron Kaplan are behind the single-camera project, which is being produced by produced by ABC Studios and Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment. Rob Hanning and Stacy Traub spearheaded ABC's previous incarnation in 2009, titled "Besties," with Lindsay Sloane, Majandra Delfino and Mary Elizabeth Ellis in the principal roles. (Deadline.com)

REMEMBER SUNDAY (ABC, New!) - Alexis Bledel and Zachary Levi are set to topline the latest Hallmark Hall of Fame original at the Alphabet. Bledel will play Molly, a down-on-her-luck waitress, who meets Gus (Levi), a jewelry store clerk dealing with a brain aneurysm that gives him a blank slate the second his alarm wakes him each day. Jeff Bleckner is directing the project, additional auspices for which weren't given. (Variety.com)

RETURNED, THE (ABC) - The Aaron Zelman-penned hour - about a worldwide event in which loved ones return from the dead exactly as they last were in life - has scored a pilot order from the Alphabet. Said drama is based on Jason Mott's upcoming novel of the same name with JoAnn Alfano and Jon Liebman of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B Entertainment executive producing alongside Zelman for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)

RITA (Bravo) - Miguel Arteta ("The Carrie Diaries") has been tapped to helm the drama pilot, about an outspoken private school teacher who struggles to raise her own three teenage children while dealing with the inane bureaucracy and overprotective parents at her school. He'll work from a script by Krista Vernoff, which in turn is an adaptation of the Danish format of the same name. Henrik Bastin and Mikkel Bondesen also serve as executive producers for Fox Television Studios. (Deadline.com)

SIXTH GUN, THE (NBC) - Ryan Condal's small screen take on the Oni Press comic - about an innocent girl and a shadowy gunfighter who are tasked with protecting one of six pistols of otherworldly power in the Old West - has been ordered to pilot at the Peacock. Carlton Cuse and Closed on Mondays Entertainment's Andy Bourne and Eric Gitter are executive producing for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

SLEEPY HOLLOW (FOX) - The Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci-produced drama - which follows Ichabod Crane as he partners with Sleepy Hollow's local female sheriff to solve the mysteries of a town ravaged by the battle between good and evil - has been greenlit to produce a pilot. Len Wiseman is helming the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour from a script by Kurtzman, Orci and supervising producer Phillip Iscove. Heather Kadin of K.O. Paper Products is executive producing alongside Kurtzman and Orci. (Deadline.com)

THEN CAME ELVIS (NBC) - D.J. Nash's semi-autobiographical comedy - about "a son idolizing his blind father and bemused by his mother's newfound adolescence who watches his family come closer together post-divorce in the 1980s" - has scored a pilot commitment from the Peacock. The single-camera project is set up at Universal Television with Jason Bateman and Jim Garavente of Aggregate Films also serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)

TO MY ASSISTANT (FOX, New!) - Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer have scored a pilot order for their new single-camera comedy about "the assistants at a big New York law firm who band together as a family to help each other cope with the obnoxious, overbearing bosses who test their sanity on a daily basis." Dan Lin and Jennifer Gwartz are executive producing alongside said duo for via their Warner Bros. Television-based Lin Pictures. (Deadline.com)

UNDER THE DOME (CBS) - Natalie Martinez and Alex Koch have both been cast in the upcoming drama, about a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. Martinez will play Linda, "a young, ambitious deputy, fiercely loyal to Sheriff Duke Perkins, who runs a tight ship in the town of Chester's Mill"; while Koch is set as Junior Rennie, "son of the local politician and car dealer, who is a smart, secretly deeply disturbed college freshman desperately in love with local girl Angie, a waitress who's desperate to get out of Chester's Mill." Colin Ford also stars in the project, which is based on Stephen King's best-selling novel and produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment alongside CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED RAND RAVICH PROJECT (NBC) - Rand Ravich's drama - about "an idealistic Secret Service agent who finds himself at the epicenter of an international crisis on his first day on the job" - has booked a pilot commitment at the Peacock. 20th Century Fox Television is behind the hour with Far Shariat executive producing alongside Ravich. (Deadline.com)

UNTITLED SEAN HAYES PROJECT (NBC) - The Sean Hayes-led comedy - a man who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter, who just moved in, while navigating a temperamental new boss at work - has scored a pilot order from the Peacock. The multi-camera project was penned by Victor Fresco, who's executive producing alongside Hayes and his Hazy Mills Productions partner Todd Milliner for Universal Television. (Deadline.com)

VENICE (ABC) - Byron Balasco's contemporary take on Romeo and Juliet - about "two rival families and a forbidden and dangerous romance emerging between them as the two families battle for control of Venice, California" - has likewise received a pilot commitment. Warner Bros. Television-based Wonderland Sound and Vision is behind the hour with the company's Peter Johnson and McG also executive producing, the latter of which will direct. (Deadline.com)

ITV has defended its scheduling of Wednesday evening's (January 23) Coronation Street episode following claims of a National Television Awards 'fix'.

A report in The Mirror today (January 25) suggests that BBC insiders have criticised ITV for shifting Corrie to a 7pm slot on Wednesday, allowing the Weatherfield soap to air directly before the live NTAs broadcast at 7.30pm.

Voting for the 'Most Popular Serial Drama' category remained open throughout the live show, meaning that Coronation Street was fresh in viewers' memories in the final stages. Corrie - which has regularly topped the soap ratings in the past 12 months - took home the top prize on the night, beating BBC rival EastEnders.

Emmerdale usually transmits in Wednesday's 7pm slot on ITV, but its regular instalment was merged into an hour-long episode which aired the previous evening.

A BBC insider told the newspaper: "It seems ITV will stop at nothing to win NTAs. The stars tweet reminding people to vote - then they put a big Corrie episode on moments before the show starts. It is such an obvious tactic and not the first time they have played unfairly when it comes to the NTAs."

However, an ITV source responded by saying: "These claims of a fix are just sour grapes. The best soap won and our ratings are better than EastEnders' too, averaging 9.2 million."

An official statement from ITV denied any ulterior motive for the scheduling change, insisting that viewers "expect" to see Corrie on Wednesdays.

The network said: "Last year Coronation Street was broadcast on Monday, Thursday and Friday but in 2013, it is going out on a Wednesday. Viewers expect to see it midweek, which is why it was rescheduled to 7pm to make way for the NTAs."

Corrie actor Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs) won the 'Serial Drama Performance' prize on the night, while EastEnders' David Witts (Joey Branning) was named 'Most Popular Newcomer'.

Should a convicted rapist guest star on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"? A new Change.org petition says no -- even if the convicted rapist is Mike Tyson.

Tyson's "SVU" turn, scheduled for the February sweeps, would continue years of image rehabilitation. Tyson is expected to play a murderer on death row who was victimized by a violent childhood.

But the petition says the show's latest stunt casting seems perverse after its long history of standing up for abuse victims. The petition has 4,623 supporters, just 377 names short of its goal of 5,000.

"As soon as I saw it, I was just floored by the news," said Marcie Kaveney, a Fort Myers, Fla., sexual abuse survivor and advocate. "'SVU' is a show I've followed for a long time. ... I think survivors consider this their show."

She added of the guest spot: "I don't know if its for ratings or to clean up Mike Tyson's image."

NBC declined to comment. Representatives for Tyson did not immediately respond to TheWrap's requests for comment.

Tyson has overhauled his public persona in recent years, trying to leave behind memories of his conviction and his ear-biting in the ring. His gentler image has included playing himself as a closet Phil Collins fan in "The Hangover," embracing veganism, and starring in a one-man Broadway show.

Kaveney, who works with Abuse Counseling & Treatment, said she had never created a petiton before she learned of Tyson's casting earlier this month. She said she doesn't begrudge Tyson the right to earn a living, and knows he's done his time: He was released from an Indiana prison in 1995 after serving three years for raping a beauty pageant contestant. The former heavyweight champion has denied committing rape, saying he was "set up."

But "SVU," she says, is a show for survivors, not perpetrators.

Kaveney, who was sexually assaulted by two men when she was 14, said one reason she appreciates the show is that it refuses to blame victims. She was assaulted after drinking and passing out, and appreciates that the show makes clear that no one deserves to be raped, under any circumstances.

But she is bothered by Tyson getting a storyline that she believes might be perceived as an excuse for his past actions.

"It's kind of being a rape apologist, saying 'Maybe he's had this violent childhood and that's why he's become this violent person,'" she said.

She is also troubled, she said, by statements Tyson has made even as he tries to clean up his image.

Last year, in an interview with a New Zealand television show, he denied the rape, saying, ""I was set up -- I don't care what people say."

Kaveney also noted a September 2011 interview in which Tyson responded to a book claiming Sarah Palin once had sex with NBA player Glen Rice. He said Palin should have had sex with someone like Dennis Rodman instead.

"You want her to be with somebody like Rodman... push her guts up in the back of her head," Tyson said. "Glen Rice is a nice, mellow, docile black man, non-threatening guy. You want somebody like Rodman -- yeah baby! Let’s get that donkey in here now. ... Just imagine Palin with a big old black stallion rippin'. You know, like rippin'. Yeehaw!"

Kaveney said the comment reflected continuing "misogyny" from Tyson.

If successful, the Change.org petition would be only the latest to make a massive company make a change.

In September, the National Geographic Channel dropped a woman known as the "Hardcore Huntress" from a survival show after protests from people who objected to killing animals for sport.

That petition earned 13,000 signatures in less than 24 hours -- far more than the one to keep Tyson off of "SUV."

The model and former Big Breakfast presenter will fill in for Fearne Cotton on the comedy panel show, while she takes time off to have her baby.

The appointment was confirmed by host Keith Lemon, who is quoted by The Sun as saying: "Doing Celebrity Juice is exciting – especially when you have a new captain who has bigger bangers than Fearne Cotton."

Lemon joked that he hoped Brook will take over from Fearne Cotton full-time.

He said: "I didn't think we could replace Fearne but now we've got Kelly I hope Fearne don't come back.

Charlotte Rampling and Sean Patrick Flanery have just lined up a couple of killer new roles.

"The Night Porter" star Rampling and "The Young and the Restless" alum Flanery have been cast in recurring roles in the upcoming eighth season of Showtime's "Dexter," a spokeswoman for the network told TheWrap.

In a rare television role, British actress Rampling will play a neuro-psychiatrist who works with young psychopaths and uses unorthodox methods in profiling criminals.

Flanery will play a former police officer named Jacob Elroy who currently runs a Miami private-investigation firm.

"Dexter," which wrapped up its seventh season in December (and hit a ratings record for a Showtime original series with the season finale), will make an early return, premiering its eighth season on June 30 as a lead-in to the new Showtime series "Ray Donovan."

"Killing Lincoln," the National Geographic Channel drama based on Bill O'Reilly's bestseller, will premiere Feb. 17 at 8 p.m., the network said Thursday.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the debut, falls on Presidents Day weekend.

The film -- which, according to the network, "thrillingly chronicles the final days of President Lincoln and the treasonous plot by one the most notorious, yet complex villains of all time" -- stars Billy Campbell ("The Killing") as Lincoln and newcomer Jesse Johnson as his assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

Ridley and Tony Scott produced the project, with Tom Hanks hosting and narrating the two-hour film.

Following this U.S. premiere, and its 10 p.m. re-airing, the film will debut globally in 171 countries and 38 languages in March on the National Geographic Channel.

National Geographic is also working on an adaptation of O'Reilly's follow-up book, "Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot," with Scott Free Productions once again producing.

Game of Thrones star Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy have reportedly landed the lead roles in Sky Atlantic's remake of The Bridge.

The Tunnel will star Dillane as detective Karl Roebuck and Poésy as his partner Elise Wassermann, TVWise claims.

The Tunnel - based on the Scandinavian crime drama - is being co-produced by Sky and French premium channel Canal+.

Like the original, the UK / French adaptation will focus on two detectives who are brought together when a dead body is found on the border between their two countries.

Dillane plays Stannis Baratheon on Game of Thrones and recently appeared on BBC / Cinemax spy drama Hunted, while Poésy has appeared on Gossip Girl and starred opposite Eddie Redmayne in BBC One's adaptation of Birdsong.

Kudos Film & TV and Shine France will co-produce the 10-part Tunnel series, with French filmmaker Dominik Moll directing.

US cable network FX is also developing its own remake of The Bridge starring Diane Kruger, Demián Bichir and Matthew Lillard.